" Third, pain, suffering, and evil are due not to external forces but to "engrams," or the negative mental imprints gathered through traumatic experiences in current and past lives. In this sense Scientology promotes similar beliefs to Eastern religions and New Age ideologies.
Fourth, the Church of Scientology advocates social service and remains particularly concerned with problems related to drug abuse. The Church is active in disadvantaged communities, especially those with drug abuse and criminal problems. Worldwide, the Church of Scientology has established missions that ostensibly help the most disenfranchised people on the planet achieve peace.
The tenets of Scientology are more practical than theological, and in many ways the ideology resembles a New Age self-help program. Although the Church of Scientology claims that faith is unnecessary, practitioners are nevertheless expected to believe that Scientology teachings offer the only solutions to their worldly problems. The Church of Scientology disavows the benefits of psychological therapy or counseling outside of the Church because its views on the nature of human life differ significantly from that of the scientific establishment. The "auditing" process in Scientology resembles psychological counseling but is done so within the parameters of the religion. Auditing involves an established set of questions and auditors use an "electropsychometer," or E-meter to assess the practitioner's responses.
The Church of Scientology claims to have the answers to all human pain and suffering, listing a litany of social and psychological problems the religion can heal. For example, the Church website mentions depression, anxiety, drug and alcohol problems, and family issues. The Church advocates a strong human rights policy and promotes social justice and equity. What the Church of Scientology offers is prospect of "freedom," and union with the Ultimate Reality. The...
Scientology: Its Origins and Its Implications for Society What is scientology? Most people don't really have any idea, other than that its mentioning conjures up vague notions of a cult in the minds of many. Scientology is relatively new, as far as religions go, but it has captured a rather large worldwide following in a short amount of time. In fact, since its founding, scientology has experienced a phenomenal amount of
Church of Scientology The Church of Scientology has established over seven hundred centers in sixty-five countries (Urban). The church functions as a guide, offering a variety of courses designed to inform the individual about Scientology, personal counseling called auditing, designed to get rid of unwanted emotions, habits, and psychosomatic illnesses, and purification rundown, a procedure to free one's self from the harmful effects of drugs and toxins ("Scientology: Inside a Church
Scientology Introducing a New Religious Movement, one must be as objective as possible. I, for instance, could choose to tell you that L. Ron Hubbard founded the Church of Scientology in 1954 and marketed it as an organization for social reform that essentially became the global force it is today, with (young, professional, stylish, racially-diverse) adherents providing positive sound bites on Scientology.org that promote (in naturalistic, community-oriented settings) the religion as
Scientology as Cult The Cult of Scientology Many controversies have arisen regarding Scientology, which was started in 1952 and declared itself a religion in 1953 when it was incorporated as the Church of Scientology. Scientology can be identified as being both a cult and a complex pyramid scheme in which people are coerced or convince to donate money in order to attain spiritual salvation. Scientology has encountered several legal, ethical, and moral
Scientology proposes a range of unique therapeutic interventions. One is the tone scale, which posits a tonal correspondence to human emotional states. Auditing is also a central Scientology practice. An auditor is an advanced Scientology practitioner who monitors another. Devices like the "eMeter" are used during the auditing process. No scientific validity whatsoever lends credibility to the eMeter or to any of the therapeutic interventions and the Scientology Web site
Auditing helps the practitioner remove the "implants" that prevent one from being happy and fulfilled. In accordance with its systematic maps of human consciousness, the Church of Scientology and its social organization are hierarchical and rigid. Members pass through stages of development during which they improve their self-awareness and overall intelligence. Human progress and personal growth is described as a series of dynamic impulses. When Hubbard first codified his beliefs
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